Radio jack



NOV 1, 1955 J. R. OLIVER 2,722,670

RADIO JACK Filed Feb. 2o, 1952 IN VEN TOR.

CoZZfPN/J United States Patent O 1 2,722,670 RADIO JACK John R. Oliver, Boston, Mass. Application February 20, 1952, Serial No. 272,665 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-183) This invention relates to jacks or similar electric connections such as are used in radio and other electronic installations.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple jack for this purpose which is so constructed that it can be made on a relatively small scale and yet operate elciently, and which has novel means for yieldingly locking the two contact elements in contact relation.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a sectional View showing a jack embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 1 indicates the wall of a box or casing containing the radio or other electronic apparatus, or said member 1 may be the panel of suitable electronic apparatus in which the jack is mounted.

The jack comprises a body member 2, preferably of insulating material, which is shown as mounted in the panel 1 and as extending through an opening 3 therein. Said body member is illustrated as having exterior screw threads 4 which extend throughout its length. The body 2 has a collar 5 of insulating material screw-threaded to one end thereof and which engages one side of the panel 1, and said body is held in position by a clamping nut 6 which is screw-threaded thereto and is located on the other side of said panel. A washer 7 of insulating material is preferably used between the nut and panel so as to insulate the body 2 from the panel.

Said body is provided with an elongated interior contact-receiving chamber 8 which is open at one end of the body as shown at 9, said opening being smaller than the cross-sectional area of the chamber.

Situated in the contact-receiving chamber 8 is a contact member 10, which is formed of a strip of resilient conducting material that is bent into a general U-shape with a loop portion 11 at the bent end. The two arms 12 and 13 of the U-shaped contact member are connected to the loop portion 11 by a neck section 14 which extends loosely through the opening 9.

The contact member 10 is assembled with the body 2 as shown in the drawing with the loop portion 11 projecting beyond the open end of the body, and with the arms 12 and 13 loosely received within said chamber, the neck section 14 extending through the opening 9 as stated above. The two arms 12 and 13 have a diverging relation from the neck 14 as shown at 15 and the divergence is such that at a short distance inwardly from the opening 9 the arms are separated by`a distance greater than the diameter of said opening and thereby the contact member is retained in the chamber.

The jack also includes a plug type contact 16 which includes a body portion 17, preferably of insulating material, from which extends a contact pin 18 adapted to be entered between the contact arms 12 and 13. The body 2 is provided with an axial bore 19 to receive the pin 18, the outer end 20 of said bore being enlarged. The body portion 17 has a section 21 of reduced diameter and of a size to t the enalrged portion 20 of the bore. The outer end of the body member 17 is provided with a handle 22, preferably of plastic material, by which the plug contact can be manipulated.

23y indicates a circuit wire connection leading to the body member 17 and which is electrically connected to the pin contact 18 in any suitable way.

The inner end portions of the arms 12 and 13 are transversely curved to fit the pin contact 18. Said pin contact is provided near its end with a neck portion 24 of reduced diameter and the aims 12 and 13 are bent inwardly between the divergent sections 15 and the transversely curved portions as shown at 25 to provide locking portions which iit into the neck 24 of the pin 18 and thus yieldingly hold the plug contact in its operative position. It is to be understood that the loop portion 11 of the contact member has a circuit wire 26 connected thereto so that when the plug is inserted into the body member 2 the circuit 23, 26 will be closed. The contact member 10 is prevented from being displaced while the pin 18 is being forced into its operative position between the contact arms 12 and 13 by the engagement of the divergent portions 15 with the wall of the opening 9. It has been stated above that the arms 12 and 13 of the contact member 10 are resilient, and a a result they yield somewhat when the end of the pin 18 is inserted between the locking portions 25, but will snap into the neck 24 when said locking portions come into register therewith.

I claim:

A jack for electronic use comprising a body member having an interior contact-receiving chamber, said body member having at one end an opening communicating with said chamber, which opening has a smaller cross sectional area than that of the chamber, said body member also having at its other end an axial bore leading into said chamber, the outer end of which bore has an enlarged diameter, an integral spring contact member comprising a strip of resilient conducting material bent centrally and transversely to present a generally U-shaped formation having a loop section at its bent end, the free end portions of the arms of the U-shaped spring contact member constituting two opposed contact sections, the portion of each arm between the loop and the contact section being bent inwardly thereby providing a neck section which has a transverse dimension less than that of the loop section, said contact member being loosely received in said contact-receiving chamber and unattached to the Walls thereof, said neck section extending loosely through and being located in the rst-named end opening of the body member, and the loop section being located outside said body member and extending beyond the end thereof, said loop section constituting a terminal exterior to the body member to which a circuit wire may be attached, the portions of the arms of the contact member between the neck section and the contact sections having a divergent relation suilicient to space said arms apart by a distance greater than the diameter of said neck-receiving opening of the body member, the portion of each arm of the spring contact member between the contact section and the divergent portion being bent inwardly to form a locking portion, and a companion plug type contact member having a contact pin portion extending through said axial bore into the contact-receiving chamber and being located between and engaging said contact sections, said plug contact member having a neck Section of reduced diameter adjacent its end and adapted to receive the inwardly bent locking portions of the arms of said U-shaped contact member, whereby the said plug contact member is yieldingly and removably held in its operative position, said diverging portions of the arms of the spring contact member preventing said member from being pushed through the neck-receiving opening of the body member when the plug type contact member is being operatively engaged with said contact sections.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,677,068 Alden Iuly 10, 1928 2,401,430 Lake June 4, 1946 2,567,510 Drescher Sept. 11, 1951 

